


Für Elise

by heartofchristmasjoy



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9192788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartofchristmasjoy/pseuds/heartofchristmasjoy
Summary: Newt knew almost nothing about babies, he’d never held one in his life. Heck, he’d never even been around one. He was the most unqualified person to be taking care of another human.But there was no way in hell that Newt would leave it here.(Prompt: Newt + accidental baby acquisition -  That time when Newt somehow has to take care of a human baby. I don’t care whose baby it is.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> -For Linda, beloved Nanna and Potterhead-
> 
> This is my first fan fic, so any advice is very appreciated. I have dyslexia, so I might be slow to update and I may make spelling mistakes. I hope you have a nice day!

Newt had had many odd days before, but this was one of the most life changing one to date.

He was walking back to the one room apartment he was renting from a wizard in Glasgow, thinking only of the trouble his damn Niffler had caused once again. Newt was just grateful that the woman he was trying to steal jewellery from was a witch, though her views on magical creatures were less than merciful. He was encountering this attitude the more that he traveled and honestly, Newt was unsure how his book would be received. He had delivered the manuscript to Mr. Worme a fortnight ago, and was currently an anxious mess. His evening walks were the only thing that helped calm his mind from it, though rarely enough for him to sleep.

 

Newt was dragged from his thoughts with a harsh noise emanating from the darkness. He recalled hearing this noise before, but not the animal who made it. In any case, he knew that whatever it was needed help. He looked around cautiously, then pulled out his wand.

“Lumos,” he whispered, illuminating the street before him. Moving forward slowly, he followed the sound to a small box resting on the entrance to a large building. He pointed his wand to the sign above the door. ‘GLASGOW CATHOLIC ORPHANAGE’ he read, though judging by the state of the building it wasn’t looking inhabited. Already knowing what he would find, yet praying that he was wrong, Newt crept closer and knelt, peering inside the box.

 

Wrapped in a large bundle of threadbare blankets, lay the smallest baby he had ever seen. ‘I didn’t know humans could be this small,' he thought. The baby was wailing, its face screwed tight in a way that made Newt's heart lurch. 

 

Newt knew almost nothing about babies, he’d never held one in his life. Heck, he’d never even been around one. He was the most unqualified person to be taking care of another human. 

 

But there was no way in hell that Newt would leave it here.

 

Gingerly, he set down his suitcase, put his wand in his coat pocket, and reached into the box. He lifted the baby into his arms and cuddled it into his chest. It quietened a little, but kept crying.

‘It’ll be scared, and probably hungry,’ Newt thought, "How long have you been out here?" He asked it quietly. He put a hand against its head. A bit cool, he noted, but then he didn’t know if that’s the temperature babies were supposed to be. Were they meant to run hotter or colder than an adult, or was it about the same? In any case, there was nothing he could do out in the cold. He carefully balanced the baby in one arm, grabbed the case in his free hand, and apparated into the apartment with a pop. 

The baby startled and began crying louder than before. Newt put the case back down, ripped his wand out of his coat and pointed to the door. “Muffliato,” he whispered, trying not to frighten the baby any more than it already was. He straightened up and walked over to the bed and laid the baby down gently, pulling the pillows around it to form makeshift safety rail.

 

First, he had to check the baby over to make sure it wasn’t injured. He lent over the baby and gently started feeling over it, starting at its head and working his way down. When Newt started feeling around the stomach, the baby flinched violently and started screaming even louder. Newts heart caught in his throat. He started to unwrap the blankets slowly, trying not to hurt it. The baby was completely naked underneath except for a grey cloth nappy wrapped haphazardly around it. But the most horrifying thing was that sprinkled over the tiny stomach was the menagerie of bruises of different ages, all about the shape of an adult hand.

 

Newt had felt rage before, but rarely as strongly as right now. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He was out of his depth, and he needed help. Wrapping the baby back up, he rummaged through his pockets, trying to find the small bag that was gifted to him several months ago. Locating it, he lay it in his hand, reading the all too familiar note attached to the drawstring. 

 

**_For when your book is finished, or just for in the meantime, -Tina_   **

 

Newt had wanted to take Tina up on her offer before now, but he worried that he would be annoying or intrusive. He normally tried not to dwell on that, but with Tina it was different. Tina made his heart flutter and his tongue stupid. If Tina found him annoying, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

 

But this wasn’t about him right now. This baby needed help now, and there was no other option.

 

Newt walked over to the fireplace at the other side of the room and threw some Floo powder into the flames. He spoke Tina’s address clearly in the flames and stuck his head into the fire, grateful that the baby was starting to quiet down.

 

“Tina!” Newt coughed. “Tina, are you here?” Newt listened as something crashed in the other room, and quick footsteps coming to the fireplace.

 

“Newt! How are you?” Tina said excitedly, her face flushed.

 

“Tina, I’m sorry if this is a bad time, but I need-” He coughed, ash tickling his throat “need some help, I didn’t know who else-“

 

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?!” Tina looked over his face with concern.

 

“No, I-“ Newt was cut off by the baby giving a loud scream, which caused him to flinch in fright.

 

“Newt, what was that noise? Is someone hurt?” Tina asked in a deceivingly calm voice, gripping her wand tighter in her hand and raising it slightly to the fireplace.

 

“I-I don’t, I just-I need help, Tina. Can I come over? Please.” Newt stuttered out, focusing most of his attention on the baby, who was currently fighting against the blankets in a panic.

 

“Yes, but I need to know one thing. Will this be dangerous?” Tina demanded.

 

Newt glanced back at Tina, looking her right in the eye as he said, “I don’t believe so.” Tina sighed, then nodded her head and moved away from the mantle. Newt smiled slightly in relief, “Thank you. We’ll be there in a moment.”

 

As he pulled his head out of the fire he heard Tina shout after him. “Hang on, we?!?”

 

Newt quickly went over to the bed and scooped the baby up in his arms. Stuffing his wand into his pocket, he knelt down and grabbed the case with one hand, then walked back to the fireplace and stepped inside. He yelled Tina’s address into the fire as he struggled not to drop the squirming baby.


	2. Chapter 2

Newt and the baby landed with a thud in Tina’s living room, where Tina was currently pacing away from them, hands on her hips and muttering unpleasant phrases. She turned around at the noise, her face the definition of rage. But her face fell the moment she saw the baby. Newt put the case down and looked to the baby as well.

 

It was silent for the first time, and had stopped wiggling around. In fact, it was completely still. For a horrifying moment, Newt thought that he’d down something wrong, that the worst had happened, but then the baby blinked. Newt felt so relieved he almost fell. He knew that the baby was probably in shock, though. He looked back up at Tina, his eyes pleading for help.

“So this is what you meant by ‘we’, huh?” She said in a shocked, hushed tone. “Where’d he come from? Is he?—”

 

“No! I found it in on the doorstep of an orphanage in Glasgow, but I think the place shut down and it was crying and I couldn’t leave it there and I-I think there’s something wrong and I don’t know what temperature is a baby meant to be and-“

 

“Newt, slow down!! Breathe,” Tina took an exaggerated breath, which Newt followed shakily, “That’s it. How about you give me the baby and we go sit on the couch?”

 

Tina reached her arms out and Newt hesitantly let her take the baby from him. He collapsed into the couch and put his head down into his hands. The baby started to mewl softly as Tina carefully lowered herself down beside Newt.

 

“Now, let’s start from the beginning, and go slow. What happened? How’d you find him?”

 

Newt lifted his head and sighed, telling Tina all about the night he’d had in precise detail, not knowing which bits were important and which were mundane. Tina just sat there rocking the baby a little, nodding encouraging at him whenever he made eye contact with her.

 

“And then I floo’d you and, well, you were here for the rest of it, I guess.” Newt finished awkwardly. Tina had a steely look on her face, and she seemed to be looking through Newt instead of at him. Newt shifted, uncomfortable under her gaze.

 

“Right. Ok. Well, first we should check him over for injuries, then go from there.” Tina said, sounding much calmer than she felt. She stood up slowly from the couch, trying not to jostle the baby. She walked over to the kitchen table, Newt following behind her. With a flick of his wand, he cleared away the crockery for Tina to lay the baby down. She slowly started to unwrap the blanket, while Newt hovered protectively at her side. The baby stated to cry pitifully as the blankets were removed, but it had stopped fighting against them. Newt would have thought it had calmed down if it weren’t for the fact that every time a hand passed over top of it, it would flinch away from them.

 

When all the blankets were off, Tina started feeling the baby over going from the top of its head and working her way down.

 

“Well, he doesn’t seem to have a sore head or neck, so probably no spinal injuries.” Tina stated, continuing down the baby’s torso. It squirmed as she reached its stomach, clearly in discomfort. Tina murmured apologies, trying to calm the baby and get the job quickly. The baby only cried louder and kicked its limbs violently at Tina's hands.

She sighed in frustration and held her hands up in resignment. “Ugh, I can’t tell if it’s hurting him because of the bruises or because of internal injuries!”

 

Newt thought for a moment. “Oh! Do you have any Murtlap essence? That would-“

 

“-Soothe the bruises! Of course! Hold on, I’ll be right back!” Tina quickly walked out of the room and down to the bathroom, while Newt moved to stand in front of the baby, cooing at it softly.

 

Tina walked back into the room, carrying a washcloth and a bottle of murtlap essence. Newt took them both and, with a flick of his wand, had a bowl to float over to him. He placed it on the table near the baby, filled it up with the essence and placed the cloth in to soak. He mumbled a charm over the liquid, warming it up to slightly hotter than the baby. He let it sit for a few moments more, then scooped the cloth out of the bowl and wrung it out slightly. Newt turned to the baby and slowly lowered it over its stomach, not making any sudden moves to try and lessen the baby’s anxiety. It shivered slightly at the sudden warmth, but slowly untensed its little body and stopped crying.

 

“That’s it,” He cooed, “now, lets check that tummy, shall we?” Newt gently started to touch its stomach, then stopped when the baby jerked away. He waited for the baby to calm down, then started again, laying his hand lightly on its stomach and resting it there. He waited for the baby to realise that he wasn’t going to hurt it, then, after two minutes when the baby relaxed slightly, he gently started feeling for internal injures.

 

“Well,” he said, turning his head towards Tina, “it doesn’t look like it has any internal injuries”

 

“Ok, Ok.” Tina sighed in relief.  “Well, I think the next step is warming him up, he’s a bit cold. I’ll go fill the sink and find some towels, do you-“

 

Tina was cut off by the sound of the front door opening and an astonished gasp.

 

“Teenie, can you please quickly explain how Mr. Scamander came to be in our kitchen with a _baby_?”


	3. Chapter 3

Tina and Newt both spun round to look at her. Newt panicked, reaching for his wand as he tried to step in front of Tina and the baby, before he realised Queenie wasn't a threat. He had been struggling with being hypervigilant since last being in New York, and his lack of sleep wasn't helping. His heart was racing and he felt like his chest was imploding. He quietly tried to slow his breathing and calm his thoughts. 

__

_ 'Ok, it's ok. You're fine. Stop shaking, just breath. Slow down, relax, it's ok. You're safe here. It's just Queenie. Oh Merlin, Queenie's a Legilimens.' _

 

He glanced at Queenie, silently asking her not to tell Tina what had happened. She looked him in the eye and nodded slightly, before turning her attention back to Tina, who had been talking to Queenie the whole time.

 

“-so Newt floo’d here, we checked the baby over and we were just about to put him through a bath to get him warm.” Tina finished. Queenie nodded her head.

 

“Ok, you two pop it through a bath, I’ll go find some material to make a new diaper for it, it’ll need something clean to change in to, then we’ll have to get it something to eat. It’s a bit hungry. Hey,” she looked at Newt and gave him a big smile, "it’s real good to see ya, Newt.” Queenie gave them a wink and walked to the bedroom.

 

“Uh, you-you too, Queenie.” Newt called after her, not quite sure what happened. He was struggling to keep his thoughts on track. Now that the adrenaline from earlier was wearing off, he felt the weight of two-three?-days without sleep starting to settle over him. He tried to shake it off as Tina turned back to him.

 

“Alright, let’s get him out of this diaper,” Tina said, gently scooting Newt to the side. She began to slowly unwrap the nappy, cooing softly at the baby as she did. “Oh,” Tina softly exclaimed, “looks like I was wrong.”

 

“Wrong?” Newt asked, trying to look the baby over quickly, not following what she meant.

 

“ _She_ is not a boy.” Tina explained.

 

“Oh. Um, is that-is that bad?” Newt’s heart started beating faster, unsure if Tina was upset with him.

 

“Aw, Newt, no. It’s just an observation, it’s fine.” Tina gave Newt a reassuring pat on the arm, smiling at him warmly.

 

Newt nodded, trying to calm down. He moved to pick up the baby, but Tina pushed his hands away.

 

“I’ve got her, Newt. Do you want to go to the living room and conjure up a crib while I give her a bath?" Tina asked as she lifted the baby to her shoulder and walked to the sink.

 

"Uh, ok. You sure you'll be alright? I mean, I'm not saying you can't bath her, I'm sure you can, though if you can't that's alright, but if you need help, or-"

 

"Newt! It's fine. I can bath a baby. Go set up a crib and sit down." Tina said with conviction.

 

 

Newt nodded and walked over to the lounge. He waved his wand and created an elegant walnut bassinet. He gave it a bit of a shove to make sure it was sturdy. Satisfied, he walked over to the lounge and sat down, before standing back up almost immediately. He couldn't sit still, despite how tried he was. It felt like his body and his mind weren’t communicating.

 

Sighing, he walked back over to Tina and the baby. The baby was wide-eyed, staring up at Tina, who was smiling back down. Newt moved to stand next to them.

 

"Hey, Tina. How's she doing?"

 

"Newt," Tina sighed. "I've got her. You can relax."

 

"No, it's alright. I want to help."

 

"Well, there's not much to do right now, but I might need help once we're finished."

 

Tina paused to look at Newt and gave a big smile as she saw Newts collar.

 

"Hey, Pickett, I was wondering where you were."

The bowtruckle was peeking its spindly head shyly out of the hiding place he had made in between Newts shirt and jacket. Newt reached his hand up to him, trying to offer Pickett a place to stand so he could greet Tina. His offer was met with a push from a sharp-clawed hand and a bowtruckle attempting to hide in his hair. Newt chuckled.

 

"Yes, Pickett has never been too fond of loud noises, and up till now she hasn't been the quietest of travellers."

 

Tina nodded, looking at the baby as she waved her wand, draining the water from sink.

 

“Ok baby, I think you’re finished up in there. Newt, would you mind handing me a towel?” Newt nodded, grabbing one and handing it to Tina, who was lifting the baby up to her shoulder. “Thank you.” She tucked the towel snugly around the baby, who blinked slowly and yawned. Tina held the baby out to Newt, who took her hesitantly. "I'll just go get some clothes from Queenie, be right back."

 

Newt watched her go, bouncing the baby in his arms like he would when Dougal was upset. He turned his head to look at the baby, smiling as she looked up at him with tired brown eyes. He could feel Pickett move to the top of his head to look at the now silent child, curiosity outweighing caution. 

 

"Well, what do you think, Pickett? A bit better when she's quiet?" Newt gave a breathy giggle at the indifferent chirps given to him, and the retreating fingers down his head. He pretended not to notice the slight weight settling at his shoulder. Newt looked up as Tina walked back into the room, tutting in frustration. "Is everything alright, Tina?"

"Oh, fine, someone's just a little too excited about making babies clothes," she addressed the baby with a huff, "I sure hope you like ribbons. Though thankfully," she held up a clean nappy and a simple lilac night dress, " Queenie is practical when it comes to pajamas."

 

Tina and Newt took to the table once again to change the baby. As Newt was dressing her, Tina addressed him.

 

"Newt? What are you going to do with her?" She asked gently.

 

Newt paused for a moment, looking slightly angry.

 

"Well, I was planning on keeping her. I'm not just going to toss her back outside once she's asleep!"

 

"I didn't mean it like that! I meant-"

 

"Sorry, no, I know you didn't mean it like that, I shouldn't have snapped, I'm sorry." Newt said, trying to regroup. "I don't know about long term. I probably wouldn't be the best choice for raising a child, but I can't give her up right now." He looked at Tina, exhaustion plain in his face. "Someone hurt her, they hurt a defenseless baby. I can't just give her to anyone knowing there are people like that out there." Tina nodded, gripping Newt's shoulder in a comforting way.

 

"There, all finished!" Newt said, a bit too brightly, trying to lighten the mood. Tina gave a final squeeze and let go, frowning slightly. Newt cuddling the baby close to his chest, straitened up and spun around to face the crib. Blood drained from his head, he must of gone too fast. ' _Merlin, how long has it been since I last ate anyway?'_. He breathed in deeply, trying to clear the fog that had settled over his eyes.

 

Newt cleared his throat. "So, what now, do you think? Shall we organise a feed for her or-", Newt started to say, before Queenie walked into the room and marched over to him.

 

"Newton Scamander, hand that baby over to Tina and  _sit down_." She said, grabbing the baby before he could protest and handing her gently over to Tina, who held her tightly in one arm and grabbed her sister with the other.

 

"Queenie, what's the hell is going on?" she demanded, concern etched over her face. As Queenie pulled Tina close and started whispering into her ear, Newt sat heavily down on the lounge and covered his face with his hands. He heard snippets, "...hasn't slept...", "...worried about him...", but he didn't care anymore, he was just so tired. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Queenie kneeling in front of him.

 

"Ok Newt, I've got a pillow and a blanket here, do you want to take off your shoes and lie down? We'll take care of the baby while you sleep." She smiled gently, but Newt shook his head and made to get up.

 

"No, I'm, I have to go and check on my creatures, I-"

 

"I can do that, I'll make sure they're feed and happy, but you need some sleep." She paused, grinning a bit. "You're such a sweet guy, but you need to look after yourself too. Now, will you go to sleep willingly, or do I need to get Teenie in here to hex you?"

 

Newt held her gaze for a moment, trying to be stubborn, before relenting. He wiggled his shoe off, placing them neatly together at the end of the lounge, while Queenie placed a large feather pillow at the other end. She gave Newt a patchwork quilt before standing, dimming the lights with a flick of her wand. Newt stretched out and almost burrowed into the pillow, relishing its cool softness.

  
In the moments before sleep overcame him, a smile etched itself on his face at the sight of Tina slowly dancing around the kitchen, with the baby falling asleep on her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just have to say from the tips of my toes, that I am very, very, very sorry at how late this is!
> 
> As everyone knows, life rarely cares about what you want to do and throws lots of 'draw 4 wild cards' into the Great Uno Game of Existence.
> 
> I am not a very well person and that often means that I can't do what makes me happy until I feel a bit better. I don't know when it will hit me, I can't cure it, and I often have to sacrifice doing things just to make it through the day.
> 
> I hope you like what I've written so far and have patients for what is to come.
> 
> Live Long and Prospare xx


	4. Chapter 4

According to the clock in the bedroom, it was only 3:57 in the morning, but Queenie was half convinced it must be 5 in the afternoon two days from now considering how tired she felt. Poor Tina, try as she did, had succumb to sleep almost an hour after Newt. MACUSA had been over-run with cases involving Grindelwald’s many apparent fanatics and sympathisers. Tina had just come back from a two day long raid where ten or so criminals had managed to escape. Rumour has it that President Picquery took an hour to be convinced that it was _unwise_ to go after them herself, and at least half an hour after that before she stopped threatening that she’ll rip Grindelwald to pieces herself for all the mayhem he’s caused. Rumours aside, that left Queenie by herself with the baby for the past 5 hours, and most of those were spent feeding the poor thing. Not that Queenie minded, as it was a waif of an infant, all skin and bones. Queenie had more than half a mind to Floo to Glasgow and hunt down the people responsible for hurting the poor thing, and it only grew stronger whenever the babies’ mind flashed with images of what was done to her. Thankfully, she was finally settled into a dreamless sleep in the cradle they had moved into the bedroom (Tina had insisted them move it away from Newt so he wouldn’t be woken up if the baby cried, and both women had agreed that if he woke before 12 in the afternoon it would be far too soon), and Queenie settled onto her bed, just to rest her eyes for a few moments.

 

She woke a bit later to a subtle sense of fear emanating from someone in the flat, the kind that was the beginning of a nightmare. She looked over at Tina, knowing that she was prone to them, but found her quiet content in her restful state, her mind lingering on the soft colours that could only be found inside Newt’s suitcase. The nightmare continued to grow stronger in her mind, flashes of the dream appearing alone with the sense of dread, though the dreamer remained anonymous. She wrapped a knitted shawl around her shoulders as she rose to check the baby, but stopped as she pieced together the images she was seeing. She quietly marched into the living room to Newt, caught in the jaws of his mind. He wasn’t thrashing around like one would expect from what was playing inside his head. In fact, the only outward clue to his distress was the wrinkling of his brow and a subtle increase to his breathing. Queenie knelt down in front of the lounge, her hand hovering over his shoulder, unsure as how best to wake him.

 

“Mr. Scamander,” she whispered, “Newt, honey, wake up.” She gently gripped his shoulder, giving a slight shake as she raised her voice a fraction louder. “Newt?”

 

_Newt was sitting at his mothers piano, playing a soft tune that she requested more frequently as she became too ill to go out-of-doors, a favourite of them both._

_‘Newt,’ she called to him softly, patting at the spot next to her where she sat at the window seat._

_He rose quickly from the piano stool, and gingerly sat beside her. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and sighed as he wrapped an arm around her in a gentle hug._

_‘Newt? Why are you here? Why aren’t you at Hogwarts?’ She asked him tiredly. He gave her a gentle squeeze as he opened his mouth to explain, but was confused at the sound that came out. He was yelling, no, screaming. Why was that happening? He turned to ask his mother but found she was gone. And so was her sunroom. He looked about himself, confused as to how he got into the Hogwarts Owlery. A group of no less than ten Jarveys where in the room with him. They toppled him over, at first just shouting obscenities at him, but then becoming violent, tearing at his skin with their sharp teeth and claws. He looked around the room for something to help him, and found Leta Lestrange sitting on one of the wider owl perches, her feet carefully raised out of the reach of the enraged Jarveys, smiling as she watched him struggle against them. Newt remembered how she had asked him to meet her, remembered thinking how he’d do anything for the only friend he ever had._

_‘Leta? Why’d you bring me here?’ He shouted over the din, but she just smiled at him the way she did when they played exploding snap. Her smile kept growing, distorting her face as the Jarveys,_ **_her_ ** _Jarveys he realised with a shock, started mimicking people._

_‘Newt, what happened in the Owlery last month?’ Asked Dumbledores voice calmly, echoing slightly in the large infirmary. Several Jarveys flew around Newts head as the Owlerly and the Infirmary competed with each other to be the one in focus._

_‘They were my Jarveys,’ replied Newts voice emptily, ‘I wanted to study them. Luckily Leta found me and ran for help.’_

_‘Newt,’ Dumbledore’s voice was closer now, lower ‘is there anything you want to tell me? Are you sure that they were not Miss Lestrange’s Jarveys instead?’_

_‘No Proffessor, they were mine. I was foolish, I didn’t think. Leta would never risk making her parents angry.’ Newts voice filled with unshed tears as Leta told the Headmaster to expel him, smiling sweetly all the while._

_The Jarveys then began to scream, higher and higher._

_Newt was in the New York Underground again, and Grindelwald was before him, wearing Graves body once more._

_‘CRUCIO!’ He yelled, brandishing his wand at Newt. Newt fell to the tracks, his body filled with icy fire as he soundlessly screamed. Graves continued his vicious attacks for an eternity before finally letting Newt rest. Panting, he watched Graves walked over to his suitcase and with an air of indifference, flip it open._

_‘Don’t. Please, don’t hurt my creatures’ Newt tried to beg, but his throat swallowed the words till only the faintest sound came out._

_‘Well, Mr. Scamander, what’s this?’ Graves asked sarcastically. ‘You don’t want me to hurt your animals? Very well, this will be far more enjoyable anyway.’ Graves chuckled as he lifted the baby from within the suitcase._

_‘NO!’ Newt began running towards him, but he couldn’t move fast enough._

_‘CRUCIO!!!!’ Graves cursed, hitting the infant square in the chest. The baby began to cry out;_

_’Newt? Newt!_ Newt! Wake up!”

 

He started, still disoriented from his dream. Queenie was in front of him, the tip of her wand glowing. Her eyes were glinting with the beginning of tears, turned a ghostly silver from the light. He took a shuddering breath in, not remembering much of the dream that left him in this state.

 

“Queenie?” He asked, his voice slightly strained. “How much- I mean,” he trailed off, not sure of what he was trying to ask.

“It’s ok Newt.” She replied softly. “Do you want me to go get Teenie?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s rather silly, really.” The last thing Newt wanted was to bother Tina more than he already was by just being here _,_ just because he had a bad dream. He attempted to change the subject “How’s the baby?”

Queenie smiled sadly, but went along with him. “The baby’s finally asleep. She’s a hungry little thing, she downed almost twelve bottles in five hours!”

“Merlin, I’m sorry Queenie. I should have woken up sooner, you must be knackered” Newt said as he sat up properly on the lounge, taking in the room. “Wait, where is she?”

“She’s in our room, don’t worry. Knackered sounds like a made up word.” She said with an almost forced lightness. She sat down on the lounge beside him.

“This coming from a country that decided on No-Maj?” He retorted, sinking back into the cushions. He was grateful that she wasn’t pushing him to talk about what happened.

“Well, No-Maj makes sense. You just squish non magic together. ‘Muggle’, though, seriously, where’d that come from?”

“Honestly, who knows?” He giggled, relishing the moment. It had been far too long since he’d been able to joke with somebody.

They sat together on the lounge for a while, talking about nothing, Newt slowly becoming more relaxed then he had been in years.

“Hey, Newt? How long have you been havin’ nightmares?” Newt shifted uncomfortably. Queenie pressed on. “Is that why you haven’t been sleeping?”

 

Newt refused to answer her. He was ashamed that she had seen him like that, almost as much as he was ashamed that he wasn’t able to do anything to stop his nightmares.

“Would you be thinkin’ like that if it were Teenie that had the nightmare in front of you?” She asked him. He stared at her in shock.

“No, of course not! Why would you even think that?”

“Well, what’s the difference between her nightmares and yours?”

“First off, she’s an Auror, so she- her nightmares wouldn’t be as... they wouldn’t be over silly things like mine.”

“Aw, Newt,” Queenie began, “I think you’ve been though stuff that’s as un-silly as it can be….” She looked at Newt fondly. “And we just wanna help you. Teenie’s real worried about you, you know? And I am too. No offence Newt, but you’d looked better half covered in old cream than what you look like right now.” Newt wrinkled his nose in disgust at the imagined sight. Queenie giggled. “Yeah, exactly. Hon, we just wanna help you.”

Newt grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Thank you.” He said, looking down at his knees. Releasing her, he rubbed his neck and yawned. The sky outside began to lighten, though was still a while off from pinking with dawns arrival. “You should head off to bed, I can look after the baby from here.” He offered meekly, embarassed that he kept her up even further.

“Nah, it’s ok. I was just about to make some hot cocoa anyway.” She smiled, standing from the couch and walking towards the kitchen. Newt followed, not really wanting to be alone or fall back asleep. Queenie sighed, but decided that she’d said all she could about the matter for tonight. “Do you want one Mr. Scamander? After all, you didn’t taste it last time you were here, and you really should.” She said in a teasing, but kind, way. “I make a mean hot cocoa.”

 

Newt giggled at the mock serious look on her face, and agreed.

 

“Hey, I’m just wondering,” Queenie began as she boiled the water with a wave of her wand, “have you decided on a name yet?”

 

Newt suddenly thought back to the song he used to play for his mother. Both he and his brother had been taught to play the piano, but only Newt had fallen in love with it like his mother had. For a moment, he was back with her as she taught him her favourite song.

 

He smiled and asked quietly, “What do you think of Elise?”

 

———————————

 

Queenie was right, he mused later as he finished his third mug of the most delicious hot chocolate he’d ever had, he really should’ve tasted this the first time round.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I'm back?  
> I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out, but for now, have a Newt with Nightmares and Queenie, the best Mum Friend.


End file.
